Crossing the Line

How does one commit the ultimate crime and get away with it? Is there such a thing as a perfect crime? These are questions that have pushed John Rain, the protagonist and professional killer in Barry Eisler's thriller series, to mental and emotional extremes.

In Requiem for an Assassin, Rain, who is half-Japanese and half-American, finds himself at his outmost limits.

Living in Paris, Rain has taken on a new identity, trying to leave the world of killing behind. But the world of killing will not let Rain go. When rogue CIA operative Jim Hilger tells Rain this his friend Dox's life is on the line and that Rain is the only one who can change Dox's fate, that is, if Rain completes the assignmenta series of three hits-Rain's sanity is tested.

For an assassin like John Rain, a killer with a conscience, the moral divider between getting away with murder versus completing an assignment is slim, very slim.

Eisler, who worked for the CIA for three years after college says he's interested in "forbidden knowledge and the moral ethics of killing. When you're a soldier," says Eisler, you're licensed to kill and rewarded for it."

In Requiem for an Assassin, how does Rain know that Hilger won't kill Dox regardless of what Rain does? Or that the assignment is ultimately a set-up for Rain? A ploy in Hilger's lethal game of extortion?

"I always try to put Rain in more stressful situations to bring out deeper parts of his character," says Eisler. "In this book, he's under so much pressure, the line between professional and personal is especially difficult to see."

Barry Eisler's John Rain books have been translated into nearly 20 languages and included in numerous " best of" lists by national publications such as Publisher's Weekly and the San Francisco Chronicle. While working for the CIA as a Directorate of Operations, he was placed in a Japanese language program. He is a lifelong student of martial arts and moved to Tokyo after leaving the government to study Judo. Today, Eisler lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area and continues to travel to Japan and other parts of Asia. Read an excerpt here.